Wheels on the Bus
by shield-maiden
Summary: Amara, princess of Nova Roma, is forced to...take the bus home,gasp!


Disclaimer: "Cheerleaders are dancers who have gone retarded." I didn't say that, Sparky from Bring it On did. So besides not owning X-men Evolution I also don't own this quote, le sigh.

Yes, I am now a proud bus rider, yay! Although I myself have not committed any of Amara's crimes I have a friend who has committed some, like standing up instead of pulling the string, and she didn't have her i.d. with her bus pass so that caused problems in itself. Anyways, On with the story!

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"I have to WHAT?!" Amara's horrified screech resounded through the school hallways.

"Shhh," Tabitha hushed, "keep your voice down. Besides, it's not that bad."

"Not that bad," Amara repeated. "Not that BAD? I'm being forced to use the public transport like a common peasant."

"I'd drive you home in Lance's jeep but I got detention. Scott's helping Jean 'move into her dorm' so his car's gone. Jean would psychically kill anyone who touched her SUV and all of the x-tutors are busy this afternoon. Any one of us would take it with you but there's club meetings, detentions, dates," she ticked off the events on her fingers.

"But, what if I get lost?" Amara threw her arms into the air. "I have no clue how public transport works."

"No better time like the present to learn. Here," She placed a dollar seventy-five in Amara's hand, "you want Route 17, the stop is right in front of school. You'll miss it if you hang around here too long. I'm probably late for detention or I'd walk you through the whole thing. See ya."

Amara watched her friend practically dance down the hall. 'How could she be so insensitive to my needs?" Amara wondered. She stared at the money in her hand. "I'm being forced into peasant transport, I'm not _becoming_ one. What do I need this for?" The Nova Roman princess simply shrugged her shoulders and began walking to this so called bus stop.

"So, this is the bus stop," she stared incredulously at the small blue sign proclaiming "Route 17" for all to see. "Doesn't look like a bus stop to me. It's a road with a little sign that a big honking vehicle like a bus shouldn't pay any attention to." She firmly rooted herself next to the sign, prepared to yell and cause a scene should the bus refuse to stop...and she waited. Minutes seemed like hours as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, twiddled her thumbs, and frequently checked the time. "Where is it?"

"Relax," a boy next to her smiled, "it's usually late."

"Really," she demanded.

"Yes, really."

"Very well, then, I'll continue to wait."

Sure enough, the bus did come. Not a bright yellow one she expected it to be but one of the everyday variety. The doors hissed open and Amara proudly boarded, taking a step up and beginning to turn left towards the seats.

"Forgetting something," the driver prompted.

"Oh, how silly of me," Amara giggled, "I'm Amara Aquilla, pleased to make your aquaintance, uh," she leaned forward and squinted at the nametag, "Larry."

"You too," he responded, "but you're still forgetting something." In response to her puzzled look he pointed to a large silver bill acceptor.

"It's $1.75," the helpful boy prompted, "You need to pay to get on."

"Oh!" Amara turned a bright shade of red. "Sorry, I'm new to America," she smiled as she fed the dollar into the machine and dropped the change in the slot. She then promptly grabbed the first seat available and plopped down. Much to her chagrin, the helpful boy sat next to her, forcing her to scoot over.

"Exchange student," he asked.

"Yes," she buried her face in her hands.

"I'm Mark," he offered his hand.

"Amara..."

"I know, I heard you tell the bus driver."

"Oh," she blushed.

"No need to be embarrassed. I've been riding the bus for years and I still get lost sometimes, talk about embarrassing." Amara laughed nervously for a moment before turning to look out the window. The bus lurched forward; streets, houses, and people suddenly whizzed by. She rudely ignored Mark's attempts at polite conversation as she concentrated on her destination.

Her destination was soon in sight. Amara promptly rose from her seat, shuffled past Mark into the isle, holding onto the pole. She looked expectantly at the bus driver as they neared her stop...and passed it up completely. Amara's jaw dropped for a second before regaining composure. She then took a deep breath before announcing, "I need to get off the bus NOW! You've passed up my stop, please turn around IMMEDIATELY!"

She heard a stifled laugh from Mark as he promptly grabbed a yellow cord on the side of the bus. "I'm afraid you'll have to walk a bit further, princess. Buses don't turn around. And just a tip, next time pull the cord before you want to stop."

Amara dumbly stood and stared at him before the sudden slowing of the bus nearly threw her to the ground as she clung to the pole. The doors hissed open once again. Amara threw back her head and announced, "See you all tomorrow, then. Have a pleasant evening."

She disembarked the great hulking machine and watched in shock as the door slammed shut and a sigh from inside was picked up by her ears before the bus took off in a puff of smoke. "Stupid peasants," she grumbled.

The walk home wasn't too bad but her back began to ache before long. As soon as she reached the Institute she promptly collapsed onto the perfectly manicured lawn. There Tabitha later found her, "Tough ride huh?"

"The worst," Amara told her, "You know what's worse than that?"

"No."

"In my momentary bout of insanity I told them all I'd see them tomorrow."

"You don't have to if you don't want to y'know."

"No, I'm a princess after all. I don't break my promises. Besides, it has to be better next time, right?"

"Sure, Amara. Are you gonna need some change?"

"Yes, unfortunately. Did you know they charge you for public transport? I think that's just silly. I mean, there's no charge for the use of public restrooms, is there?"

"In some places I think there is."

Amara let out a groan, letting her head fall back onto the grass, "I hate my life."


End file.
